2018 Russian calendar features Vladimir Putin just hanging around with some dogs

Russia’s notorious president Vladimir Putin is quite, well, notorious. He’s had a shady past, including some of his critics just happening to wind up dead, and he’s made a couple of awkward jokes that have had the international community shifting in their seats uncomfortably.

So then it would seem a hard task to make Putin more likeable. But one calendar did the best they could: by pairing Putin with lots and lots of dogs.

Japanese Twitter user @ydtmg_yoi recently posted photos of that calendar, purchased on a trip to Russia, the only place in the world where it’s available:

▼ “I picked up this crazy thing in Russia. A 2018 calendar of Putin just playing with dogs. I had no choice but to buy it.”(Click images to enlarge.)

I mean, it’s impossible not to smile when looking at all those cute canine friends. And then that means you’re technically smiling at pictures of Putin, which technically means you like him, which technically means your name is now Boris/Natasha and you live to serve the needs of Mother Russia.

For those curious, @ydtmg_yoi tweeted a photo showing the pictures from all twelve months in the calendar:

▼ We have to say though, most of the dogs look like they’re just putting up
with Putin, anxiously waiting for their treat/signal that it’s okay to leave.

As crazy as they are, these Putin calendars seem to be an annual thing in Russia. And at least this year’s one did a better job than the 2016 Putin calendar that showed off the man in ways no one ever asked for.